During the operation of a refrigeration system such as a refrigerator or an air conditioner unit, cooling may be accomplished by cycling a refrigerant liquid through a heat exchanger system in which the refrigerant liquid is allowed to evaporate as it passes through an evaporator coil located in the environment being cooled. During, the process of evaporation, heat energy surrounding the evaporator coil may be absorbed by the refrigerant liquid thereby reducing the temperature of the surrounding environment. The evaporated refrigerant can then be cycled to a compressor located away from the environment being cooled to be compressed back to a liquid (which disperses the energy absorbed by the liquid as heat) so that the refrigerant liquid can be recycled back into the evaporator coil for further cooling.
As a result of the cooling effect of the refrigerant evaporation process, the temperature at the surface of the evaporator coil may also be reduced. The reduction in the surface temperature of the evaporator coil may fall below the dew point of the air surrounding the coil, causing moisture in the air to condense onto the evaporator coil. In some cases, such as in the operation of a freezer unit, the temperature of the evaporator coil may fall below 0° C. causing the condensed water on the evaporator to freeze, producing frost on the surface of the evaporator coil.
The presence of frost on the surface of the evaporator coil negatively impacts the cooling process by reducing the efficiency by which the refrigerant liquid absorbs heat within the evaporator coil as it evaporates. Over time, the build-up of additional frost on the surface of the evaporator coil further impacts the performance of the refrigeration system. As such it may be desirable to have a system and a method in which the build-up of frost may be minimized or eliminated.